The Few, The Proud, The Marines
by Elosion12
Summary: I couldn't remember the last time I saw the sun, the gorgeous, yellow sun. I had been blind for what seems like eternity, any hope of a hero had vanished...I would never see my friends or family again. Nobody would ever see Isabella Marie Swan again.
1. Chapter 1

**I lay on the cold, hard, dusty, floor, wishing for a rescue; wishing for an escape from this **_**Hell**_**. I sobbed once, only once. The throbbing pain of my broken ribs prevented any more emotion from leaking through.**

**I couldn't remember the last time I saw the sun, the gorgeous, yellow sun. I had been blind for what seems like eternity, any hope of a hero had vanished. I didn't know what my voice sounded like anymore, I hadn't talked since the day they took me. Sure, I sob and cry and scream but no talking. I've been shut off from everything I knew. My family, my friends, my **_**life**_**. Tears wet the blindfold as reality came crashing down.**

**I would never see my friends or family again. Nobody would know what happened to Isabella Marie Swan, the one and only female Marine sniper. They would assume that I was weak and died of something a man would easily survive and the opportunity for women would be lost forever.**

**I heard the door slamming against the wall and stiffened. I heard heavy footsteps and then a hand grabbed my hair, pulling me up forcefully. I yelped in pain against the duct tape covering my mouth as I was lifted to my feet.**

"**You stupid American, you will never leave! You understand? Never! I will hold you until you die!" He ended his sentence of butchered English with a punch to the mouth and, after I had fallen again, a swift kick to my already broken ribs. I moaned in pain and rolled on to my stomach.**

**I heard his footsteps retreat and the door slam shut, I cried silently, praying to God that He would soon relieve me of this pain.**


	2. Chapter 2

All seemed calm in my personal Hell, as calm as Hell can get that is. The desert sun beat down upon me through the window and beads of sweat collected on my forehead and my upper lip. Bruised and broken, I lay immobilized on the ground, gasping for air as my ribs send a familiar stabbing of pain through my torso.

Footsteps startled me but when no beating came I figured it was the extremist that kept watch over me. I sighed and relaxed once again.

_Bang_

One shot rang out, one and only one; there was a Sniper in the surrounding area. I mentally cursed at myself for not using the 'crash, thump' technique. I quieted my thoughts to prepare for another possible shot from the same, or a different, Sniper.

_Bang_

One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four onethou-

_Thump_

I felt the pressure wave of the rifle gently thud against the house and I stopped counting. After calculating in my head, I determined that the Sniper who pulled the trigger and fired that shot was approximately 1350 meters away or about 171 miles away.

That was fairly close, I squirmed; my sudden movement caused a fire to burn through my torso.

"It is useless, you _stupid_ American girl. You will stay here forever, you should just accept your fate." My watcher's voice broke the silence.

The next unmeasurable moments of time were filled with _bangs_ and _thumps_ and each time they would grow closer. Eventually crickets started to chirp, signaling it was evening or night.

_Bang_

O-

_Thump_

Only an eighth of a second.

My heart began to pound, this person was only 4 miles away from me, and I didn't know if they were friend or foe. A wave of the desert's scorching temperature suddenly washed over my body causing a thin layer of sweat to delevop on my arms and face. My exposed legs were sticky with sweat and I took deep, painful, necessary breaths. Tears sprang to my eyes and I let them flow; the coolness of my tears against my hot skin were a hidden blessing for which, I was grateful.

"Dude, we _can't_ be here right now." The first man announced his presence in a whisper. He spoke fluid English and had a slight accent, it sounded southern and slightly familiar.

"_What did you call me, soldier?_" The second man announced himself in a hushed yell.

"I mean, Colonel, Sir."

The second man sighed. "I may be your brother but in the field I am your superior, you'll do well to remember that."

I heard the first man reply witha weak "Right."

I squirmed and tried to find my voice; Americans! There were Americans right outside my prison! My captor rushed over to me and I felt the cool metal of his small handgun pressed against my temple. I stopped moving. "You will not move or make a single noise or I will shoot you. Understand?" I nodded quickly. "Good. Now, hush."

Their chatter continued and got softer as they walked off. I began to thrash once I couldn't hear them anymore. That was my opprotunity of freedom and it was walking away! I yelled as well as I could through my gag and ignored the burning in my chest and every other muscle in my body. My yells turned to sobs after about a minute of thrashing.

My chance of seeing civilization once more was lost; That was the moment I finally gave up hope.


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed like a lifetime since the two American men had passed by. My watcher had stayed the first few nights and days to ensure they wouldn't return and when they didn't, he stopped staying and would leave me alone for most of the day.

The door slammed open and I tensed automatically. When nothing happened, I relaxed, it was just my watcher. "Don't be too glad, _Allah_ is going to be stopping by," I whimpered and he laughed at my fear. "Good, you should be afraid. He'll probably kill you today, you're starting to be a burden." Finally, my life was going to end today. I wasn't happy about dying but death had to be better than this Hell. I wonder if the real Hell can compare to this. From what I've already experienced, Hell would probably feel like Heaven and Heaven? Heaven would be eternal bliss.

After I was fed my meal for the day, a ham sandwich and a cup of water, my watcher left; he told me before he left that when he returned, _Allah_ would be accompanying him. I mentally prepared myself for death and couldn't calm the excitement I felt winding up inside me. Today it would end.

The door was kicked in and harsh footsteps approached me. "Girl, are you ready for death?" I heard the sound of a handgun being loaded and then I felt the cool metal of the barrel pressed against my temple. The safety was released... "No, this will never do. I want to see her expression when I kill her. Remove her bindings." Calloused hands worked quick, removing my gag and my blindfold, my ties on my hands and feet vanished as well. The sudden sunlight burned my eyes and I closed them, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. "I almost forgot the innocence of those eyes. Now, on your knees, American." He pulled me up to my knees and held me there, by my hair, still holding the gun against my head. "Any last words?" I nodded. "You may speak, briefly."

I cleared my throat. "Hell would be a pleasant surprise."

He laughed maniacally. "Yes, I'm sure it would; unfortunately, you're just going to be dead and your ghost will wander here forever. Now, _that_, is Hell." He laughed again. "I've drawn this out much longer then I planned. Goodbye, this was fun while it lasted."

A single gunshot rang out, but it wasn't from _Allah_'s gun. I looked up from the ground I had been staring at just in time to see a man fall, dead. The others began to take cover behind objects to prevent themselves from becoming the next victim. I was released and fell to the ground, weak. I gasped at the pain that shot through my ribs but sat up to see another man go down by a sniper's rifle. Only three men remained, one of them being _Allah_. The two remaining henchmen responded with their own gunfire but from their hasty and uncoordinated technique, I doubted that they took any men down. One of them moved to shoot but a bullet found itself into his forehead and he fell. The other henchman panicked and stood to run, he made it to the doorway and I heard many bullets ring out, at least seven men fired at him; needless to say he was dead.

_Allah_ was the last man standing. He dropped his handgun only feet from where I resided and crawled to the dead henchman, taking his rifle and beginning to shoot at my allies. I knew what I had to do. I dragged myself to the gun and, as I lifted it to take a shot, my ribs exploded in pain. I gasped but continued the process and quickly took aim and fired a shot into his arm. He screamed in pain and glared at me. Before he could raise his weapon against me, I pulled the trigger again and this shot delved into his neck. Blood shot everywhere and he stumbled to his feet for his last seconds of life and then fell. "Goodbye." I mimicked his earlier comment and dragged myself to his body for the rifle. I tore the white shirt off his body and tied it to the barrel, a makeshift flag. I slowly made my way to the door, crying from the pain. I stopped just before the door and held the rifle out in front of U.S. snipers, just one shot rang out and went through the flag, all the others weren't trigger happy.

I dropped the gun and exposed myself to the late afternoon sun of Iraq. I used the door to pull myself to my feet and took a step into the roadway, collapsing from weakness. I sat there exhausted but I raised my right hand and held my head up facing my allies that were ingorant to who was in front of them. "I, Isabella Marie Swan, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same! That I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice! So help me God!" I shouted my military oath at the top of my lungs, which wasn't very loud and then began to huff in exhaustion. My throat ached, I needed water. I collapsed and my vision began to evolve into darkness and teh last thing I remember is thinking, 'It's finally over.'

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**A/N: Hey guys! Whew! That was intense! I always love writing intense stories. :) Tell me what you think!  
**

**Mucho Amor,  
Elosion12**


	4. This is Very Important!

**I apologize for the readers who had their hope smashed when they found this A/N in place of the next chapter of one of my stories but I'm here to tell you that I'm going to start cleaning up. Which means, I'm going to stop starting random stories and work on the ones I have currently. Currently, I have nine stories. I haven't worked on some of them in forever and it annoys me.**

**So here's my plan.**

**On my profile, there is a poll. The question is "Which story should I update and work on first and foremost?" There are eight options. I did not put my story "A Perfectly Good Heart No More" as an option because it is on hiatus until I get around to redoing the entire story. Every other story is an option in the poll and you can only pick one.**

**Based on the poll, these will be the results:**

**The two stories with the most votes will be my primary projects.**

**All other stories will be put on hiatus until further notice.**

**If any story recieves zero votes it will be DELETED FROM FANFICTION. Although I wouldn't want to do that to something that I put a lot of work into, if it happens I will. There's no telling if I might republish it with a different name.**

**Thank you for understanding and helping me set my priorities.**

**Elosion12**


	5. This is Very Important! Part II

**Hello again, my readers!**

**Well, the results are in! I have closed the poll and I will now announce which two stories will become priorities.**

**In first place is "Starting Anew"**

**In second place is "Addicted to You"**

**And I am happy to say that NONE of my stories received zero votes. Therefore, none will be deleted! Yay!**

**Now, the other six stories are on hiatus until I feel that "Starting Anew" and "Addicted to You" are updated enough to my liking. I will then start updating the others, in sets of two.**

**In third place is "I Just Want You to Know Who I Am"**

**Fourth is "The Few, The Proud, The Marines"**

**In fifth is "Dear Edward"**

**In sixth place is "Assassin's Creed: Twilight"**

**In seventh is "A Hole of Darkness"**

**And in eighth place is "His Majesty is Found At Last"**

**So, that's that. I will start writing the next chapters now and will post them as soon as I can.**

**Elosion12**


	6. Chapter 4

_Beep… beep… beep…_

The strange beeping noise is what woke me up. I looked around and from the white fluorescent lights, I assumed I was in a hospital. When I finally grasped reality in my shaky hands, the pain hit me like a rock. The beeping sped up as my body ached with pain and I moaned as fire attacked my limbs. Footsteps came closer until a nurse appeared within my restricted range of vision.

She was one of those nurses that absolutely loved helping people, so much so, that she beat herself up when a patient didn't make it. Her passion was clear in her eyes. Her blue eyes bore into mine as she checked my vitals, her lips moved but didn't make any sound. 'You're going to be okay,' she mouthed. I wasn't comfortable handing this woman my life but there wasn't much I was able to do. My neck was restrained in a brace and my left arm was in a cast at my side. My ribs burned with the pain of old fractures and my face felt swollen and unnatural.

A stray tear flowed down my cheek and I prayed the nurse didn't see it. What kind of sniper was I to cry from injury? I wonder what my commanding officer would say if he would see me now. Restricted to my bed, weak and defenseless. It went against everything you're taught in the Marines. As I thought about how long it would take me to heal, a man walked in the room.

I recognized him all too well, Sergeant Johnson. He saluted me and I attempted to move my right arm to return the gesture but as I twitched my arm, a spasm of pain shot through me and I cringed. The heart rate monitor accelerated and Sergeant Johnson laid his hand on my arm. "That's not needed, Swan." I closed my eyes to show that I understood and as I reopened them, Sergeant Johnson stepped closer to me and looked down upon my broken frame. "Swan, after extensive investigation of the bodies of your captors, we deduced that they were a group of rebels we were previously unaware of. Do you know how long you were held there?" I stared at him, to signify my ignorance. "Well, from the condition of your uniform and other clues, we estimate that you were in there for approximately four months. Does that sound accurate?" I blinked. "Okay, good. I'm sure you don't want to deal with all this when you're waking up but the report needs to be finished. It's been two weeks since we hauled you out of there." I blinked. "Can you talk at all, Swan? I'd like to hear more than yes or no."

I cleared my throat to abide my superior's wishes. "Y-yes, Sir." My voice was rough and weak, it felt as if sandpaper had been placed against my vocal chords. "May I have some water?" The short phrase sent me into a coughing fit. Sergeant Johnson reached for a cup that sat on the end table and then proceeded to hand it to me. "Thank you, Sergeant." I coughed again as I pressed the elevate button on my bed. After I was situated, I drank deeply relishing the cold, wet taste of the water. "How did you find me, sir?"

"Well, Swan, two of our field agents were investigating the area and heard your captor through an open window. They then returned to base to inform us of their discovery and spent the time in between planning your rescue." A small smile appeared on his face. "You're very lucky, Swan."

I nodded slightly. "I know. May I see the field agents that led to my freedom? I owe them that, at least."

"Very well, I will tell them to visit within the next few days."

I smiled but the tense feeling in my face restricted the true emotion, "Thank you, Sir." Sergeant Johnson saluted me goodbye and left. I was alone to think about the past four months of my life.

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**A/N: Hello again! Oh, how I missed this story! Well, I believe that my primary stories are fairly updated so now I can work on other stories that have had ideas brewing inside my head for the past five months!**

**Mucho Amor,  
Elosion12**


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